Chapter 404: The Imperial Expedition

"Yazi, if I give you a boat, can you return to Yanzhou?"

After Zhang Yazi also received his porridge, Chai Wu squatted down with him to eat, and Chai Wu said.

"Brother Five, does that even need asking?" Zhang Yazi wore an expression of 'who else but me'.

Chai Wu nodded; Zhang Yazi was very clever.

At the age of twelve, because he was sulking with his father, he had sailed a boat out to sea by himself, and after wandering around on the ocean for three days, he had actually returned on his own.

"Yazi, we must find a way to escape." Chai Wu took a sip of porridge, his throat aching from being scratched by the sand mixed inside.

Zhang Yazi pursed his lips, "Last night, another one who tried to escape was caught and killed; the corpse is still hanging over there."

Chai Wu had seen it during the day, hanging on the wooden stakes by the seaside.

"What? Since when are you so afraid of death? Just eating this moldy cake, drinking this thin porridge, and doing such heavy labor—you won't even last three months," Chai Wu mocked.

"Brother Five, you underestimate me. Through blades and seas of fire, when has this Zhang Yazi ever been afraid? I am worried that you, Brother Five, will lose your life." Zhang Yazi raised an eyebrow.

Chai Wu glanced around, "I, Chai Wu, am not so easily killed."

The matter was settled.

After eating, the two were urged to get back to work.

That night, Chai Wu carefully observed the soldiers patrolling the Pier, secretly memorizing the times they changed shifts.

The next day, he continued to observe the terrain of the Pier, planning the escape route.

The sixth day.

A torrential downpour suddenly began at the Pier, and the entire Pier was pitch black, with only the firelight in the Pier's watchtowers shining.

Once everyone was asleep, Chai Wu woke up Zhang Yazi.

At this moment, he took a finger-length piece of wire from his waistband.

Before heading to Gaoli, he had anticipated the possibility of being shackled, so he had prepared this item in advance.

For people of the Four Courts, picking locks and prying doors was a required skill; Chai Wu fiddled with the lock on the shackles on his feet for a few moments, and the lock opened. Then, he opened the lock for Zhang Yazi.

In the darkness, Zhang Yazi felt his feet loosen and was filled with surprise.

But he bit his lip hard to keep from making any sound, holding Chai Wu's hand as he followed him out of the grass shed.

Over these days, Chai Wu had thoroughly familiarized himself with the Pier; even with his eyes closed, he could find the way out.

At the same time, the heavy rain masked the sound of their footsteps, and the darkness became the best camouflage.

Emerging from the work shed, they successfully crept to the Pier.

Moored here were Gaoli warships, as well as some small boats prepared to be hoisted onto the warships.

"Someone is running away!"

Just at this moment, shouting suddenly erupted on the beach; it was the voice of the foreman.

"This bastard, he's truly loyal to being a dog for the Gaoli people," Zhang Yazi cursed.

The last person who tried to escape had been harmed by this very foreman.

Gaoli put shackles on them specifically to prevent them from escaping.

For one, the shackles were heavy, and for another, the shackles made noise when walking.

This foreman was truly wicked.

Last time, he hadn't stopped the person immediately upon hearing the sound of the shackles, but instead waited until the person had run a distance away before shouting, thereby using it to claim credit with the Gaoli officials.

After all, since the distance was too close, the person fleeing could have easily claimed they were just going to relieve themselves.

It was just unexpected that this time, even though they had removed their shackles, they were still discovered.

"Get on the boat, quick!"

The foreman's voice rang out, and suddenly there were over a hundred soldiers holding torches on the Pier.

They scattered, and more than ten headed in their direction.

Seeing this, Chai Wu was anxious and hurriedly pushed Zhang Yazi onto the boat.

He then went to untie the rope binding the boat to the wooden stake.

It seemed that to prevent anyone from stealing a boat to escape, the ropes holding the boats were tied in a very complicated manner, and Chai Wu was delayed for a moment before he could untie them.

But by this time, the soldiers holding torches were less than thirty meters away and would discover them immediately.

"Zhang Yazi, don't make a sound, remember what I told you!" Chai Wu shouted to Zhang Yazi in a low voice.

Then, he shoved the boat away from the shore with all his might and ran in the opposite direction.

"Stop!" The Gaoli soldiers heard the commotion and immediately chased after Chai Wu.

Zhang Yazi covered his mouth tightly; Chai Wu had already told him his identity.

If he were exposed now, the chance to pass on this intelligence would be completely lost.

After all, it was a coincidence that Chai Wu had met him upon arriving at the Pier.

Such a coincidence would not happen again.

Gripping the oars tightly, he rowed for his life in the heavy rain.

After putting some distance between himself and the Pier, he hoisted the sail, controlled its direction, and headed west.

The heavy rain fell on his face, mixing with his tears as they streamed down.

Yancheng.

In a courtyard house in Qingyang Fang, Xu Ke suddenly sat up from his bed.

Gazing into the thick darkness all around, he gasped heavily several times.

He had just had a nightmare, and in the dream, he had returned to the jungle, where a fierce tiger pounced on him.

But now that he was awake, he found it hard to fall back asleep, and his mind couldn't help but think of Chai Wu.

Now, both he and Yan Wang have placed their hopes for investigating Gaoli on Chai Wu, hoping only that he can return safely with news.

After thinking for a while, he lay back down to sleep again.

The next morning, just as he woke up, he suddenly heard a rhythmic knocking at the door.

This was the secret signal between the people of the Four Courts.

"Chief, news has just arrived from Jingshi: the Emperor is preparing to lead the imperial army on a personal expedition!" the person said.

Xu Ke frowned upon hearing this.

This was no small piece of news; he immediately tidied up and went to the Prince's mansion.

At this time, Zhao Xu had just gotten up, finished washing, and was eating breakfast.

After hearing what Xu Ke said, the hand Zhao Xu was using to hold his bowl trembled.

"Is this matter certain?" Zhao Xu could hardly believe his ears.

Since when did his cowardly father have such great courage?

"It is said that Dou Wei instigated it, meaning that a personal imperial expedition could greatly boost morale, and that the Emperor's personal command could also suppress the forces of the powerful clans, compelling them to follow orders," Xu Ke said.

Zhao Xu nodded.

Xu Ke continued, "The Xie Family also supports this matter; the Emperor's personal expedition would allow the First Prince to oversee the state."

"Truly, everyone has their own ulterior motives." The soup in Zhao Xu's mouth suddenly lost its flavor.

War is no child's play; at a time like this, these powerful clans are still calculating against one another.

Dou Wei naturally wants to teach Xiliang a harsh lesson to avenge the Third Prince, so it is likely that he truly has the war effort in mind when suggesting Zhao Heng lead the expedition.

However, whether there are other plans, he is not clear.

The Xie Family naturally wants to use this opportunity to let the First Prince oversee the state.

After all, overseeing the state is the duty of the Crown Prince, and this paves the way for the First Prince to regain the position of Crown Prince.

As for whether the Xie Family and the Dou Family are colluding, that is hard to say.

After all, the Third Prince certainly cannot inherit the throne now, and the Dou Family likely only seeks its own interests regarding the question of who will be the Crown Prince.

As for his father, Zhao Heng, he was indeed infuriated by the affair of the Third Prince.

He hates Xiliang to the bone and has been moved to genuine rage.

Being goaded like this, it is understandable that he would agree to a personal imperial expedition.

It is just that this makes him think of the Tumu Crisis of the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, the Emperor Yingzong of Great Ming led the imperial army on a Northern Expedition, yet his army of five hundred thousand was completely wiped out by the Oirat tribes of the Grassland.

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